No Suspects? Or Too Many?
by DoctorH
Summary: A complete script/teleplay for a Murdoch episode; just like watching an episode on TV. Murdoch investigates a murder in which he can identify no suspects; but an event occurs that causes Murdoch to have more suspects than he could possibly handle. A solution to the mystery is included.
1. ACT 1

NO SUSPECTS? OR TOO MANY?

(PRODUCTION NOTES: This mystery assumes a crime scene having a particular layout of houses, hedges, pond, and so forth. It is not absolutely essential that the crime scene be laid out in this particular way, however, and it may be possible to adjust the mystery to a different location, while still achieving the effects outlined in the mystery. The roles of the Akers brothers should be played by the same actor.)

ACT I

(FADE IN. THE SCENE OF THE CRIME. It is the morning of the fifth day of the month. Outdoors, a walkway has on one side a pond with a few hedges; and on the other side, some more hedges. The terrain slopes on the pond side of the walkway and inclines down to the pond; the terrain on the other side of the walkway is even with or higher than the walkway. A man's body lies face down in the water at the edge of the pond. The man is dressed in business attire. There is a bloody wound on the right rear side of the man's head. There is blood on the walkway and at some places on the slope down to the pond. There are a few oddly spaced footprints on the slope, along with strange markings in the soil leading down to the body, but no footsteps leading all the way to the body. Constable CRABTREE is speaking to a woman, Mrs. MAXWELL, on the walkway but away from the blood and the body. A PHOTOGRAPHER is recording the crime scene. Other officers, including Constable HIGGINS, are investigating the area nearby. Detective MURDOCH and Dr. OGDEN enter the scene. The PHOTOGRAPHER nods to them, indicating he has all the photos he needs. CRABTREE gestures to MAXWELL to remain where she is, and approaches MURDOCH, who looks at the man's body and crosses himself. OGDEN goes to examine the body. As she moves down the slope, she leaves a clear trail of footprints in the soft soil.)

CRABTREE (to MURDOCH)  
Mrs. Eleanor Maxwell found the body and contacted the police. She did not witness the crime.

MURDOCH (examining the scene, indicating a blood spatter)  
It would seem that the victim was struck while he was about here, on the walkway.

CRABTREE (indicating)  
Yes. And he stumbled and fell and rolled down the slope to the pond. There are other patches of blood there and there, that indicate he fell and rolled.

MURDOCH  
And he ended up in the water, face down. If the blow itself did not kill him, then perhaps he died from drowning. (Pointing) There are no footprints in the soil, except those of Dr. Ogden and these, which seem to be the victim's. Have you found a weapon, George?

CRABTREE  
Not yet.

(MURDOCH looks around to see whether he can spot anything that might have been a weapon.)

OGDEN  
William—?

(MURDOCH turns his attention to Ogden.)

OGDEN  
The victim suffered severe head trauma, from a serious blow. He has been dead for less than two hours, I should think. But I cannot say much else without a post-mortem examination.

(MURDOCH carefully walks down the slope to the pond. OGDEN stands and moves away from the victim so that MURDOCH can approach. OGDEN continues to observe MURDOCH. MURDOCH notices that the hem of OGDEN's attire has become dirty. MURDOCH examines the victim. MURDOCH reaches into the victim's jacket and pulls out a wallet. He opens the wallet and finds identification and a modest sum of cash. HIGGINS joins CRABTREE on the walk and they both observe MURDOCH. MURDOCH and OGDEN move away from the victim and OGDEN motions to two men, who proceed to remove the victim's body from the pond. MURDOCH shows the wallet and cash to CRABTREE and HIGGINS.)

MURDOCH  
It would appear that this was not a robbery. (Reading the identification) "Timothy Akers." He lived in this neighbourhood. Number eleven. Henry, find out which of these houses is number eleven.

HIGGINS  
Yes, sir.

(HIGGINS walks in the direction of a house that overlooks the scene. MURDOCH examines the walkway and the blood stains. MURDOCH looks at the hedges. In his mind's eye, MURDOCH sees Mr. Akers walking along the walkway and a mysterious person peering at him from behind a hedge.)

MURDOCH  
Our victim, Mr. Akers, was apparently walking in a southerly direction, along this path. Our assailant was in hiding behind this hedge, watching him. When Mr. Akers got to here, the assailant came out from behind the hedge and struck Mr. Akers in the head with an object of some kind. If that is indeed what happened, Mr. Akers might not have seen who assaulted him. He might have been taken completely by surprise.

CRABTREE  
That makes sense to me, sir. Would you care to question Mrs. Maxwell, sir?

MURDOCH  
Did she say anything helpful?

CRABTREE  
She said she was walking—

(A scream is heard, and all turn to look for the source of it. MARY Akers is running toward the scene, with HIGGINS trying to slow and calm MARY, but HIGGINS is not doing a good job. MARY is frightened and highly emotional.)

MARY  
Timothy! Timothy! No! Is that Timothy? I'm his wife! Timothy!

MURDOCH (taking hold of MARY)  
We think that is Timothy Akers, yes. I am very sorry.

MARY watches in severe distress as the victim's body is removed from the scene. For several seconds, the victim's face is plainly visible. MARY falls to her knees and breaks down and tears flow. She wails. FADE OUT.)


	2. ACT 2

ACT II

(FADE IN. STATION HOUSE NO. 4, later in the day on the fifth. CUT TO: INTERROGATION ROOM. MAXWELL is in the chair, being queried by MURDOCH.)

MAXWELL  
I didn't see the gentleman's body, not at first. I saw the blood. On the path. Then I saw him in the water and he wasn't moving, so I thought he was likely dead, and so I telephoned you.

MURDOCH  
Did you know Mr. Akers?

MAXWELL  
I have seen him a time or two, yes, but I didn't know his name.

MURDOCH  
Did you hear anything unusual? A struggle, perhaps, or a cry, or a splash?

MAXWELL  
No.

MURDOCH  
Did you see anyone in the area? Any strangers, anyone suspicious?

MAXWELL  
No.

MURDOCH  
Did you see anyone in the area that you know, anyone who may have witnessed the crime?

MAXWELL  
No; I'd be surprised if there were any witnesses at all.

MURDOCH  
Oh? Why?

MAXWELL  
People don't walk by that pond much, 'specially in the morning. I walk it every day, usually 'round 8:30, and I almost never see anybody.

(CUT TO: Mr. TAFFET sits in the INTEROGATION ROOM, with MURDOCH.)

TAFFET  
Can't help ya, I'm 'fraid. Didn't see nothin' or hear nothin'.

MURDOCH  
I thought since your property backs onto the pond—

TAFFET  
Naw, not with all them trees and bushes in the way. Can't even see that pond.

MURDOCH  
Did you know your neighbour, Mr. Akers?

TAFFET  
Oh sure, worked as a chartered accountant, I think. We weren't pals, but we were on friendly terms, you could say. He was a right nice fellow. It's a shame that someone did that to him.

MURDOCH  
Did Mr. Akers have anyone with whom he was not on friendly terms?

TAFFET  
Don't think so. I could sometimes hear him and his wife havin' some real shoutin' matches, but that's normal, I s'pose.

MURDOCH  
How often did they argue?

TAFFET  
Oh, I didn't keep track. Wasn't my business.

(CUT TO: MARY sits in the INTEROGATION ROOM. Her eyes are red and in her left hand she holds a handkerchief, which she uses to dab her face. She has stopped crying but is still in considerable distress.)

MARY  
I still do not understand why. Why would anyone do this?

MURDOCH  
We are confident that the motive was not robbery. The circumstances of the crime suggest that whoever assaulted him did so for reasons other than theft. Did anyone to your knowledge have reason to want to your husband to come to harm?

MARY  
No! He had not an enemy in the world!

MURDOCH  
He was a chartered accountant?

MARY  
Yes.

MURDOCH  
Perhaps one of his clients was unhappy with his work?

MARY  
Impossible! Timothy had a superb relationship with his clients! They loved him!

MURDOCH  
Perhaps he saw something he shouldn't have seen, some accounting that involved illegal activity?

MARY  
Timothy didn't have any clients like that!

MURDOCH  
Perhaps there was someone to whom he owed money, or whom he had offended?

MARY (dabbing her eyes)  
No! Timothy wasn't like that! He was a good man! He— he didn't—

MURDOCH (uncomfortably)  
I'm sorry, but I need to ask these questions. Perhaps he had a dispute with a neighbour, or with an employee?

MARY  
No one! No one wanted to hurt my husband!

MURDOCH (sighs, then presses on, delicately)  
Was your marriage happy?

MARY (slightly surprised)  
Yes. I mean, it was a typical marriage. (Pause) I mean, we had our disagreements, but—

MURDOCH  
We've heard there were many arguments.

MARY (tearing up)  
We argued, you might even say that we argued often, but we worked things out. We were mostly happy. (Pause) What I'm saying is, most married couples fight sometimes, don't they?

(MURDOCH, seeing that MARY is being distressed by his questioning, begins to feel uncomfortable pressing her.)

MURDOCH  
Yes, I suppose so. But some couples fight more often than others. And some couples get more— physical than others when they fight.

MARY (dabbing her eyes, her voice becoming weepy)  
Well, maybe our marriage wasn't perfect, but we weren't always angry with one another. He never physically hurt me, or I him. I loved Timothy!

MURDOCH  
I understand.

MARY (on the verge of losing control)  
Detective Murdoch, I do not understand. Do you suspect ME? Do you think that I killed my husband?

MURDOCH (gently)  
I have no reason at this time to suspect you. But I have to ask questions like this. (hoping to calm MARY) Let me change the subject. I understand Timothy's parents are deceased and that the two of you have no children. And you mentioned that Timothy has a brother, Terrence, who lives in Detroit. Does Timothy have any other family?

MARY (still upset, shakes her head)  
No.

MURDOCH  
How was Timothy's relationship with Terrence?

MARY (with difficulty)  
They didn't see each other much. And they don't talk to each other much or write each other.

MURDOCH  
Did they get along well?

MARY (dabbing her eyes)  
Yes, but it's just— Terrence is in a different line of business, and Terrence and Timothy, well, they just don't have much in common. Terrence is in a less refined line of work and deals with a much less gentle breed of person than Timothy did. Timothy and Terrence don't fight. In fact, Terrence was supposed to be paying us a visit tonight.

MURDOCH (surprised)  
Terrence is in Toronto?

MARY (dabbing her eyes)  
Yes, on a business trip. He arrived in Toronto yesterday. He comes to Toronto about twice a year on business. We usually invite him for dinner when he's here.

MURDOCH  
I believe Constable Crabtree has been trying to contact Terrence in Detroit, but has been unsuccessful. Do you by any chance know where Terrence is staying in Toronto?

(CUT TO: Outside the office of Inspector BRACKENREID. BRACKENREID and CRABTREE are looking at a piece of paper and are discussing it. MURDOCH can be seen escorting MARY out of the station and saying farewell to MARY. MARY holds a handkerchief in her left hand; she is no longer weeping. MARY exits. MURDOCH turns and head to his office.)

BRACKENREID (shouting)  
Murdoch! (Holding up the paper) You'll want to see this!

(MURDOCH approaches BRACKENREID. MURDOCH sees the paper held in BRACKENREID's hand and is curious as to its contents.)

MURDOCH  
Sir?

BRACKENREID  
I contacted a friend of mine with the police in Detroit. I thought he might be able to help me track down Terrence Akers. (BRACKENREID hands the paper to MURDOCH) He helped me, all right. It seems our friends in Detroit know Terrence Akers quite well. He goes by the alias of Terry Anderson, and he has quite a history.

MURDOCH (looking over the paper)  
Assault, extortion, arson— (shocked) and murder?!

BRACKENREID  
Lots of charges laid, but no convictions. Most of the time, the charges were dropped for insufficient evidence. The only case that went to trial was the murder case, and Anderson— that is, Akers— pleaded self-defence. The jury bought it, and acquitted him. According to my friend in Detroit, Akers's principal business these days is smuggling. He smuggles contraband into and out of Canada. He smuggles anything for a price. He's very good at not getting caught. Not a very nice fellow.

MURDOCH  
Terrence Akers is in Toronto.

BRACKENREID  
What? He's in Toronto, right now, you mean?

MURDOCH  
That's what Timothy's wife, Mary, said. She doesn't know where he's staying.

BRACKENREID  
Well, if he's the kind of big shot the Detroit police say he is, he won't be staying in any low-end roadside inn. (to CRABTREE) Crabtree, contact the all the high-class hotels in Toronto, see if they've got an Akers or Anderson as a guest, and if you find the guy, do NOT talk to him. Instead, (with emphasis) tell me, and I'LL talk to him. Is that clear?

(CRABTREE nods.)

BRACKENREID  
A man like that is not likely to want to talk to the police at all, so I might have to be— diplomatic.

CRABTREE  
I'll get right on it.

(CRABTREE exits, to get right on it.)

MURDOCH  
In the meantime, sir, I have a few leads to follow.

(BRACKENREID nods. CUT TO: An ACCOUNTANT'S OFFICE. It is now the sixth day of the month. MURDOCH is in a room with two employees of the late Timothy Akers: Mr. POLKE, a young, professional-looking gentleman; and Miss OLSEN, both of whom are teary-eyed.)

POLKE  
I don't think he had an enemy in the world. He was a wonderful man, and a wonderful boss. He even— knew all of our birthdays.

MURDOCH  
Anything, even something that might seem unimportant, might be helpful. Did he ever make anyone angry or upset? Did a client ever express dissatisfaction, or make any threats?

(POLKE and OLSEN shake their heads and wipe away tears.)

POLKE  
No, never. He was a fair man, very decent and honest.

(MURDOCH smiles politely and nods. CUT TO: THE SCENE OF THE CRIME. MURDOCH is studying the walkway and the hedge. HIGGINS approaches, MURDOCH notices his approach.)

MURDOCH  
Have you had any success finding any witnesses, Henry?

HIGGINS  
No, sir, but I think we may have a lead on the murder weapon.

MURDOCH  
Oh?

(HIGGINS starts walking toward a nearby building, and MURDOCH follows. The nearby building, of which only the rear is visible, has scrap pieces of wood piled up. Some of the pieces of scrap seem to be poles about the size of a baseball bat, but a bit larger.)

HIGGINS  
This is the carpentry shop of a Mr. Chester Hull. As you can see, his shop produces pieces of scrap wood, pieces that are left over or pieces that aren't of good quality, and he piles those pieces of scrap here. And some of those pieces of scrap wood—

MURDOCH (picking up a pole, finishing HIGGINS's sentence)  
— Could be used as a club! Very good, Henry! Have you checked each of these pieces of scrap for blood stains?

HIGGINS  
Yes, sir; and there aren't any. But there may be a reason why there are no blood stains, sir.

(HIGGINS leads MURDOCH around a corner of the building. There is an incinerator.)

HIGGINS  
Mr. Hull says that he disposes of some of his scrap wood by burning it. Let me show you something, sir.

(HIGGINS opens the incinerator. MURDOCH peers inside, and sees an intact but heavily charred piece of wood, that might have at one time been a hefty club-like pole, about three feet long.)

MURDOCH (sighing)  
If this is indeed our murder weapon, I don't think we'll be able to get much from it. No finger marks, certainly.

(MURDOCH extracts the piece of wood, and looks at it, dejectedly. CUT TO: STATION HOUSE NO. 4. CUT TO: MURDOCH'S OFFICE. It is the afternoon of the sixth of the month. MURDOCH has a drawing of an overhead view of the crime scene on a chalkboard. BRACKENREID and OGDEN watch MURDOCH offer an explanation. MURDOCH gestures at the drawing as he explains.

MURDOCH  
Here's what we know so far. According to his wife, every weekday at 7:30 a.m., Timothy Akers walks to work. He leaves his home, here, and walks along this walkway, by the grove, past the pond, over to the street and from there to his accounting office. It is a walk of about four blocks. Yesterday morning, someone was hiding behind this hedge, probably here, watching him. This assailant had a club of some kind, possibly a piece of scrap wood taken from outside Mr. Hull's carpentry shop.

OGDEN  
I concur, by the way, that a piece of scrap, such as those Mr. Hull had, could have been the weapon. It would be quite consistent with the wounds.

BRACKENREID  
COULD HAVE been the weapon. No proof that it WAS.

MURDOCH  
That's true, we do not know for certain. But we do know the assailant had some sort of club. And when Akers walked to about here, the assailant stepped out and struck Mr. Akers on the right rear part of his head. Now, the nature of the wound and the unevenness of the terrain make it difficult to establish the height of the assailant, but we think that the killer was between five feet six inches and six feet.

BRACKENREID  
Pretty big range, that.

MURDOCH  
Yes.

OGDEN (helpfully)  
The assailant was almost certainly right-handed.

BRACKENREID (unimpressed)  
That's not much to go on, either.

MURDOCH  
There was one blow, just one. Akers fell, and rolled down this incline and into the pond, face down. There were no other footprints in the soil, meaning his attacker did not go down to take anything from him, or "finish him off."

OGDEN  
The blow did not kill him, at least not right away. Mr. Akers had water in his lungs, so the proximate cause of death was drowning. The wound he sustained, however, was very serious, and was bleeding profusely. Had he not fallen into the pond face down, he may well have died from the head wound alone.

BRACKENREID  
And the killer, whoever he was, committed this murder in broad daylight—

MURDOCH  
Early morning, actually.

BRACKENREID  
— And there were no witnesses, and the killer just walked off?

MURDOCH  
According to Mrs. Maxwell, Mr. Hull and others familiar with the area, that walkway didn't get used much at that time of day. They all said that they would be surprised if anyone witnessed the crime. And even though the area seems to be out in the open, the actual scene of the assault is fairly well hidden from all of the buildings in the surrounding area. In fact, the only building from which the murder scene can be viewed is Mr. Akers's own house. The killer would likely not have been seen, and after committing the crime, he could have walked to Mr. Hull's incinerator, and could have dropped his weapon into the incinerator; and then he calmly walked away. The ground at the site of the assault, and between there and Mr. Hull's, was too hard and rocky to have any footprints, so we have no way to know where the killer came from or where he went.

BRACKENREID  
So. We have no weapon, no finger marks, no footprints, and no bloody witnesses! (Grunts.) The key is motive. Akers wasn't robbed. Somebody wanted to kill him, or hurt him, at least. Who had the motive to do that?

MURDOCH  
Motive does, uh, present us with a problem. So far, everyone who we've spoken to about Mr. Akers has said that he had no enemies. So I have no solid suspects.

BRACKENREID (hesitantly)  
What about the wife? I hear Akers and his wife had some serious spats. He may have had life insurance; she probably gets all his property in his will. How about it, Dr. Ogden? Could a woman have hit Akers hard enough to kill him?

OGDEN  
It's possible, yes. But she would have to be a very strong woman.

MURDOCH  
Since it is a fairly common thing for wives to inherit from their husbands or to be the beneficiaries of life insurance policies, I think at this stage, that such a motive would be an insufficient basis to lay charges. We would need supporting, corroborative proof. And so far, we have none.

BRACKENREID (reluctantly agreeing)  
You're right. Remember the Sawyer case a few years ago? Where the wife was charged with murdering her husband to get his life insurance? The case was largely circumstantial, and the Crown argued motive, motive, motive. The jury came back with an acquittal within twenty minutes! Case should never have gone to trial, if you ask me.

MURDOCH  
I remember the defense arguing that it was a common thing for a wife to financially benefit upon the death of the husband, but if that financial benefit was a valid motive for murder, then spousal murders would be happening every day.

BRACKENREID  
And the jury agreed. (sighs) All we can say is that Akers's wife could've done it.

MURDOCH (dubious)  
Perhaps.

BRACKENREID  
But more likely, somebody hated Akers, enough to kill him, or to hire someone to kill him. But no one seems to know anyone who hated him.

(CRABTREE knocks at the doorway to get the attention of BRACKENREID, MURDOCH and OGDEN. CRABTREE addresses BRACKENREID.)

CRABTREE  
Sir? Terrence Akers is here.

BRACKENREID  
The victim's brother! Good! Tell him we'll be out to meet him presently.

(CRABTREE nods and exits.)

MURDOCH (smiling, somewhat impressed)  
So, sir; you persuaded a man with extensive problems with the police to visit a police station— voluntarily.

BRACKENREID  
It wasn't easy. I had to tell him that I knew about his legal troubles in Detroit but that we in Toronto had no cause to arrest him or even question him about any activities in the States. I told him that we only want to talk to him about his brother's death, and that was ALL we wanted to talk about. And Murdoch? (firmly) What I said to him, I meant it. He may be a criminal in the States, but in Canada, he's clean. Stick to questions about THIS case. We don't do the Detroit cops' investigations for them. Got it?

MURDOCH  
Got it.

(BRACKENREID and MURDOCH exit MURDOCH's office. OGDEN follows. The three of them walk toward a reception area, where they see CRABTREE speaking with TERRENCE Akers, who is dressed in a professional business suit. Another burly man in a suit, a BODYGUARD, is behind TERRENCE. BRACKENREID, MURDOCH and OGDEN exchange glances when they realize that TERRENCE looks EXACTLY like his dead brother.)

BRACKENREID  
Bloody hell! They must be twins!

(FADE OUT.)


	3. ACT 3

ACT III

(FADE IN. STATION HOUSE NO. 4, late afternoon on the sixth of the month. CUT TO: INTERROGATION ROOM. MURDOCH is interviewing TERRENCE. MURDOCH's posture and demeanor is non-confrontational. TERRENCE is at ease in his chair. BRACKENREID is in the room also, but it more distant from TERRENCE. The BODYGUARD is nowhere to be seen.)

TERRENCE (somber)  
We are not twins, Detective Murdoch. I'm actually a year older than my brother. My late brother, I mean. You're not the first to think we were twins, though.

MURDOCH  
I need to ask you this: Do you know of anyone who may have had reason to want to hurt or kill your brother?

TERRENCE  
I can't think of anyone who would do such a thing. As far as I know, my brother was a very kind gentleman. But if I may speak frankly, I did not really— know him all that well.

MURDOCH (determinedly, after a pause)|  
If I may ask, as long as we are speaking frankly, do YOU have any enemies who might want to kill you? It seems to me, that considering your line of work—

BRACKENREID (warning)  
Murdoch—!

MURDOCH  
Mister Akers, we know that you have some, uh, concerns with the law, especially in Detroit—

BRACKENREID (more urgently warning)  
Murdoch!

(TERRENCE becomes uncomfortable, perhaps a bit annoyed or angered. He tries to keep his expression straight.)

MURDOCH  
— And I want you to know that I am not one bit interested in asking you about any of those concerns! But sir, given that you bear such a strong resemblance to your late brother, I NEED to ask: Is it possible that someone might have attacked your brother, thinking that he was attacking YOU?

(TERRENCE does not answer right away. TERRENCE is not angry or frightened, but his expression is poker-faced.)

MURDOCH  
Sir, my goal is to bring your brother's killer to justice. And this is an avenue I need to explore. Could it be that someone mistook your brother for you? Do you have enemies that might wish to do you harm?

TERRENCE (takes a careful breath, then answers)  
Yes.

MURDOCH  
Such as?

TERRENCE  
As long as we are speaking frankly: I have many enemies. And to be even more honest: quite a few of them are policemen. Some of them are— not.

MURDOCH  
And they might wish to do you harm?

TERRENCE  
Yes, they wish to "do me harm." You saw that gentleman who accompanied me here to your station, didn't you? He's not my Toronto tour guide; he's my bodyguard. I sometimes travel with bodyguards when I am concerned about my safety or the security of my property. I've had several attempts on my life, Detective. I suppose you're aware that I was once on trial for murder.

MURDOCH  
Yes, I am aware of that. You were acquitted.

TERRENCE  
Yes, I was. It was self-defence. Do you know the story? A man broke into my home, threatened to kill me and my family. I shot him dead. I'll bet you don't know who put him up to it, though. A couple of goons on the Detroit police force "persuaded" him to try to murder me.

MURDOCH  
I— have no information on that. So forgive me if I'm skeptical.

TERRENCE  
Of course you're skeptical. Policemen are always skeptical of wrongdoing by other policemen. I'll bet you have information about my arrest record, though, don't you? Arson, fraud, kidnapping, extortion, cruelty to animals, spitting on the sidewalk— the Detroit cops have charged me with everything they could, to try to pressure me to leave town. They never have any proof, though, and the charges always end up getting dropped. They want to run me out of Detroit. But I won't leave. Detroit is my home, it is where my business is, and I built my business up from nothing. Oh, and by the way, Detective: do you know who my principal competitor is, in Detroit? It's the brother-in-law to the Chief of Police! That's why the cops harass me.

(MURDOCH isn't buying that TERRENCE is being harassed by the police, but he says nothing. TERRENCE nods.)

TERRENCE  
Yes, I see. You're skeptical.

MURDOCH  
What is your line of business, Mr. Akers?

TERRENCE  
I handle freight shipments across the border: exports to and imports from Canada. I'll bet your policeman-pals in Detroit told you I was a smuggler, didn't they?

(MURDOCH and BRACKENREID exchange looks.)

TERRENCE  
Everything I do is legal and above board. I suppose you're skeptical of that, too? Well, I'm sure you've checked to see whether I have a criminal record in Canada. I don't have one, do I?

MURDOCH  
No. You do not.

TERRENCE  
You were asking whether I have enemies. Yes, I have enemies.

MURDOCH  
You have enemies in Detroit. Do you have any enemies in Toronto, or any enemies who may have known you would be in Toronto? And who may have wanted to harm you?

TERRENCE (without amusement)  
I suppose if I really thought about it, I might be able to give you, oh, about a hundred names of people in and around Toronto who'd want to kill me.

(MURDOCH and BRACKENREID exchange looks again.)

TERRENCE  
Skeptical of that too, are you? (Smirks, then shakes his head.)

MURDOCH (slightly stunned)  
I'll ask you for the most likely suspects shortly, and we will check them out. But first, would you mind telling me where you were on the morning of the fifth, at about 7:30?

TERRENCE  
On my way to Toronto. I had stayed overnight in Waterloo.

MURDOCH  
Perhaps you're thinking of the day before. I'm interested in where you were yesterday morning.

TERRENCE  
Waterloo. On my way to Toronto, as I said.

MURDOCH  
According to your sister-in-law, you arrived in Toronto two days ago, on the fourth.

TERRENCE  
Ah, I see. I had told Mary that I would be arriving in the city a day earlier than I actually did.

MURDOCH  
You lied?

TERRENCE  
Yes. I lied. I sometimes lie to people about my travel plans. Traveling can be dangerous for me, so I sometimes announce plans that are different from my actual plans. I suppose you'd want the names of witnesses who can verify that I was in Waterloo at the time my brother was murdered?

MURDOCH (readying pen and paper)  
Please. And also the names of people in the Toronto area whom you think may be a threat to your life. But please: not a hundred names. Let's start with— say— the fifteen to twenty most likely, shall we?

(CUT TO: BRACKENREID's office. Early evening on the sixth day of the month. BRACKENREID sits at his desk and MURDOCH stands nearby.)

BRACKENREID  
All right, just so I've got it straight: Two hours ago, we had NO suspects with a plausible motive. Now we have about TWO DOZEN suspects with REALLY STRONG motives.

MURDOCH  
So it would seem. Perhaps even more than two dozen.

BRACKENREID  
I knew some of those names Akers listed: some tough, violent bastards, they are! They'd definitely be capable of bashing a man in the skull, especially if there was payment for doing it.

MURDOCH  
I recognized one of the names myself: Zimmerman. I've arrested him at least twice. And I know he has used a club to assault his enemies.

BRACKENREID  
How on Earth are we going to sort through all these names? How are we going to question them all? Are we even going to be able to FIND them all?

MURDOCH  
I expect that I will simply have to be methodical about it. We may be able to determine that some suspects are more likely than others by virtue of geographical position, or preference for assault by beating rather than, say, by stabbing or shooting. Constable Crabtree's assistance in following up on these leads would be greatly appreciated, sir.

BRACKENREID  
Of course. The two of you have your work cut out for you.

(CUT TO: Interrogation room. It is now the seventh day of the month. ZIMMERMAN sits in a chair with a muscular CONSTABLE poised behind him. MURDOCH sits opposite, with CRABTREE behind him. MURDOCH shows a photograph of a dead man's face to ZIMMERMAN.)

MURDOCH  
Do you know this man?

ZIMMERMAN  
Never seen him before.

MURDOCH  
He was murdered.

(ZIMMERMAN laughs, then catches himself.)

MURDOCH  
You think that's funny, Mr. Zimmerman?

(ZIMMERMAN tries to be serious but can't help smiling. MURDOCH shows the photograph again.)

ZIMMERMAN  
Yeah, I know him. It's Terry Anderson. So, somebody else got him before I could, eh?

MURDOCH  
This is not "Terry Anderson." It is his brother.

(ZIMMERMAN stops smiling.)

ZIMMERMAN  
Looks just like Terry.

MURDOCH  
Where were you on the morning of the fifth?

ZIMMERMAN  
The fifth? What's today? The fifth would be, what, two days ago? (Opens eyes wide, laughs.) Is that when this murder occurred? (Laughs.) Well, bad luck for you, I've got me an alibi! Ha!

MURDOCH  
Where were you?

ZIMMERMAN (confidently)  
Port Credit.

MURDOCH  
I assume you have witnesses to that effect?

ZIMMERMAN  
Hell, yes! Just call the local constabulary! I was, you might say, their "guest" that morning!

(ZIMMERMAN leans back, crosses his arms, and smiles a contemptuous smile. MURDOCH is not pleased. CUT TO: A park in the evening of the eighth day of the month. MURDOCH and OGDEN are walking arm-in-arm.)

OGDEN  
You've been tracking suspects down and questioning them for two days now. How many of the names have you and George checked out so far?

MURDOCH (dejected)  
Only six. So far, none of the suspects has produced any promising leads. If anything, we have found that Terrence Akers was not exaggerating when he said he had many enemies. There were quite a few people in the Toronto area that held grudges against Terrence Akers. To complicate matters, word seems to have gotten out, and some of Terrence's enemies have gone into hiding. It is going to be difficult to find them and question them.

OGDEN  
Do you think you are getting any closer to catching who did this?

MURDOCH (thinks about the question for a bit)  
No one has any reason or motive to kill Timothy Akers. But many people want to kill Terrence Akers. When I saw that Terrence looked exactly like Timothy, the pieces seemed to fall into place. The killing HAD TO BE a case of mistaken identity! Even now, that explanation seems to be the most probable. (wincing) And yet—

OGDEN  
It is possible, isn't it, to obtain a murder conviction when the killer kills the wrong man as a matter of mistaken identity?

MURDOCH  
Yes. Even if the identity of the victim is mistaken, the killer can still have malice aforethought, legally.

OGDEN  
And I expect you are concerned about the lack of witnesses to the crime, as well as the lack of physical evidence.

MURDOCH  
That's true; but Julia, my concern is with the evidence we already have, such as it is. There's something that is just not fitting, but I can't quite see what's not fitting.

(MURDOCH and OGDEN walk on. MURDOCH is agitated and uncomfortable in his walk. FADE OUT.)


	4. ACT 4

ACT IV

(FADE IN. STATION HOUSE NO. 4. It is the morning of the ninth day of the month. CUT TO: Just outside MURDOCH'S OFICE. MURDOCH is standing outside his office. CRABTREE approaches. With CRABTREE is JONES, a fairly young well-dressed businessman stands, holding a neat portfolio of papers.

CRABTREE  
Detective Murdoch? This gentleman wants to speak to you about the Akers case.

MURDOCH  
I'm Detective William Murdoch.

JONES (offering his hand)  
My name is Peter Jones—

(MURDOCH and JONES shake hands.)

JONES  
— And I am with Stately Life Insurance Company. Do I understand correctly that you are investigating the Timothy Akers case?

MURDOCH  
Yes.

JONES  
I wonder if I might have a few minutes of your time.

(CUT TO: MURDOCH's office. MURDOCH is seated behind his desk. Seated at a chair in front of the desk is JONES, his portfolio of papers open, his pen poised.)

JONES  
Mr. Timothy Akers's life was insured by Stately, in quite an unusually large amount. The sole beneficiary is Mr. Akers's widow, Mary Akers.

MURDOCH  
I see. May I ask the amount of the insurance?

JONES  
Um. It's a hundred thousand dollars.

MURDOCH (slightly stunned)  
That much?

JONES  
In the case of a homicide, we PREFER not to make a payment until the case is resolved. And of course, in the event the beneficiary is found guilty of causing the death, no payment is made at all.

MURDOCH  
I understand. A beneficiary is not permitted to profit from a crime.

JONES  
Yes. Mrs. Akers has filed her claim for benefits, and her claim has been assigned to me. And so, Detective, I wonder whether you could tell me how the case is proceeding?

MURDOCH (carefully)  
It is proceeding, it is not resolved.

JONES (taking notes)  
Have you made an arrest?

MURDOCH  
No.

JONES  
Oh. Do you have any idea when you might make an arrest, or close the case?

MURDOCH  
No. The investigation is ongoing.

JONES (disappointed)  
Oh. Can you tell me whether Mrs. Akers is a suspect?

MURDOCH (carefully)  
When I investigate a murder, everyone is a suspect.

JONES  
Strange. Mrs. Akers had told us that you had told her she was NOT a suspect. Was she being truthful in that regard?

(MURDOCH flashes back briefly to his meeting with MARY, in which MARY asked whether she was a suspect and MURDOCH replied that he had no reason at this time to suspect her.)

MURDOCH (a little embarrassed)  
Uh. Yes. She was being truthful; I did say something to that effect.

JONES (a bit flummoxed)  
I see. But you've changed your mind, and now she is a suspect?

MURDOCH  
She has been— cooperative in our investigation; we are pursuing other leads at this time. Mr. Jones— I wonder whether I might ask YOU some questions.

JONES  
Of course.

MURDOCH  
This policy amount, the hundred thousand dollars, that seems to be a— good-sized amount.

JONES  
Yes, it is, larger than usual.

MURDOCH  
Did Mrs. Akers have any part in procuring such a large policy?

JONES (uncomfortably)  
Detective Murdoch, I wish to be frank with you. I— suspected that very thing. You see, the policy was originally for a much more modest amount, twenty thousand dollars. About nine months ago, however, the value of the policy was increased to a hundred thousand. I suspected that Mrs. Akers may have somehow convinced her husband to increase his coverage substantially. And so, I looked into whether she had any hand in causing the increase.

MURDOCH (intrigued)  
And did she?

JONES  
No.

MURDOCH  
Are you certain?

JONES (getting out some papers)  
Our paperwork on this is quite thorough. The agent who sold the extra coverage was a friend of Mr. Akers. They went to the same church. The agent persuaded Mr. Akers that he ought to have more insurance protection, and sold him a larger policy. (shuffling the papers) As best I can tell, Mrs. Akers had nothing to do with asking for the increase. She knows about the higher policy limits now, of course, but back then, she was unaware that her husband was increasing her level of protection. The agent's name was Timbrook, if you'd like to speak to him.

MURDOCH  
That won't be necessary.

JONES  
So— can you give me an estimate of how long it will take before you will have a resolution of the case?

MURDOCH  
There are several potential suspects that we need to locate and question. That may take several weeks.

JONES (disappointed)  
Ah. This makes things difficult for me. The company CAN defer payment if the beneficiary is being actively investigated as a criminal suspect. But as a general rule, we cannot deny payment on the basis of mere suspicions. We need to have some sort of reasonable basis for thinking that the beneficiary is involved in the crime. Unless we have that reasonable basis, we will have no choice but to pay. (Pause) I was hoping—

MURDOCH  
You were hoping that I might have some evidence incriminating to Mary Akers?

JONES  
Mm.

MURDOCH  
I'm afraid not.

JONES (disappointed)  
Mm.

(JONES is a bit shaken; his facial expression suggests that his company will have to pay. CUT TO: The AKERS HOME. It is the afternoon of the ninth of the month. MURDOCH, wearing his hat, knocks at the door. MARY opens the door.)

MARY  
Why, Detective Murdoch!

MURDOCH  
May I come in?

MARY  
Yes, of course.

(MURDOCH enters and removes his hat. MURDOCH sees a fit young man, TIMBROOK, dressed in a business suit and sitting by himself in a loveseat. TIMBROOK rises.)

MARY  
Detective Murdoch, this is Michael Timbrook. He's helping me with my finances.

(TIMBROOK makes no effort to move toward MURDOCH or shake his hand. MURDOCH nods to TIMBROOK, TIMBROOK nods back to MURDOCH and turns quickly to MARY.)

TIMBROOK  
We're all done for now, Mary. Telephone me when it's convenient.

MARY  
I will.

(TIMBROOK walks to the front door, giving MURDOCH an unthinking nod.)

TIMBROOK (mumbling)  
Good day.

MURDOCH  
Good day, Mr. Timbrook.

(TIMBROOK exits.)

MURDOCH (slowly)  
I was just visiting the— the scene of the crime— again, and I wondered whether you could answer a few more questions.

MARY  
Certainly. I was about to make some tea. Would you like some?

MURDOCH  
No, thank you. I noticed that there is only one building from which the scene of the crime can be seen, and that is your house.

MARY  
Oh?

(MURDOCH goes to a window and looks out at the scene of the crime. MARY follows him.)

MURDOCH  
Yes. The scene is obscured from all of the other buildings in the neighbourhood by trees and hedges and other obstacles. But from this window, you can see the walkway, the pond, the hedges, Mr. Hull's wood shop.

MARY  
Yes.

MURDOCH  
I'm wondering whether you saw anything out of the ordinary.

MARY  
No, as I said when we spoke at the constabulary, I did not see my husband get attacked.

MURDOCH  
What I meant was: did you see anything out of the ordinary at any other time, perhaps in the days before your husband's death? Do you, for example, see any strangers milling around by the pond or the walkway or the hedges?

MARY  
I don't recall any. I don't look out that window very much, to be honest.

MURDOCH  
I see. Now, you knew that your brother-in-law, Terrence, was coming to visit.

MARY (uncomfortably)  
Yes. I now know I gave you the wrong date. I now understand Terrence misled me about the date he would arrive in Toronto. Terrence told me about it after Timothy's funeral.

MURDOCH  
At any time prior to the fifth, did you tell anyone that Terrence was coming to visit?

MARY (carefully)  
Yes, a few people. Why?

MURDOCH  
What I'm trying to discover, Mrs. Akers, is how an assailant— an assailant who wanted to kill Terrence, not Timothy— would know to look for Terrence here (gesturing to the scene of the crime).

MARY  
I did tell some people I know, neighbours, the people at the market—

(MARY abruptly begins to get emotional, and MURDOCH sees and begins to get uncomfortable.)

MARY  
Does that mean— if I told someone— that I might have contributed to Timothy's death?

MURDOCH (guilty at causing her distress)  
Not in any culpable way, no. I'm sorry, Mrs. Akers, I simply felt I needed to inquire. (uncomfortably) Thank you for your time.

(MURDOCH turns to leave. MARY walks with him to the front door. She continues to tear up, then takes a deep breath.)

MARY  
Detective Murdoch, before you leave, I have a question for you.

MURDOCH  
Certainly.

MARY  
Are you here at the behest of a Mr. Jones? Mr. Jones is—

MURDOCH  
I have met him. He is with a life insurance company.

MARY (becoming a bit more emotional)  
And he is trying to deny my claim to my husband's life insurance proceeds. He says that if I had anything to do with Timothy's death, that I cannot get the insurance benefits. I want an honest answer: Has he asked you to try to find evidence against me, so that his company can escape its obligation?

MURDOCH  
No. I am not here at Mr. Jones's behest.

MARY (still more emotional)  
Are you going to tell him that I may have told someone my brother-in-law was coming to visit, and that my actions may have brought about Timothy's death?

MURDOCH  
No. I am not.

MARY (weeping)  
My husband is dead. I have no other source of income. If the company withholds payment—

MURDOCH  
I understand.

(There is a knock at the door. MARY wipes her eyes with a handkerchief in her left hand, and goes to answer the door. MARY takes the handkerchief with her right hand and opens the door with her left hand. Mr. WRIGHT is there. WRIGHT is an older man wearing a suit, but he is not an especially well-dressed older man. WRIGHT carries a worn but not shabby valise. WRIGHT has opened his valise and has pulled some papers from it. He sees that MARY has a guest in her home, and that she has been crying. As she opens the door for him, he hastily puts down his valise, and with his now-free hand, removes his hat.)

WRIGHT  
Oh, I'm sorry, Mary. Is this a bad time?

MARY  
No. I believe Detective Murdoch was just leaving. Detective Murdoch, this is Mr. Wright, who is helping me wind up some of my late husband's financial affairs.

MURDOCH  
How do you do?

WRIGHT  
How ja do?

MURDOCH (leaving)  
Thank you, Mrs. Akers.

(MURDOCH exits the house, WRIGHT enters. CUT TO: A dining table in a restaurant. It is evening of the ninth day of the month. MURDOCH and OGDEN are dining.)

OGDEN (gesturing to the dish in front of MURDOCH)  
Do you like it?

MURDOCH (distracted)  
Yes. Yes, it's— very good.

OGDEN  
William, for just once, when you and I are together, can you leave your work behind?

MURDOCH  
I am sorry, Julia.

OGDEN  
I am sure that anything that has to do with the Akers case can wait until tomorrow.

MURDOCH  
I am sorry.

OGDEN (trying to change the subject)  
I understand that the Princess Theatre is—

MURDOCH (interrupting)  
It's just that, the number of people who wanted to hurt Terrence Akers seems to be endless. There is no way that George and I can question all of them. And the other evidence— is—

OGDEN  
It seems to me, that someone really planned this out well. Well enough to confound you, anyway.

MURDOCH  
No, Julia; this was an improvised crime, not a planned one. Someone who had reason to kill Terrence learned that Terrence was in Toronto and killed Timothy by mistak—

(MURDOCH freezes. In his mind's eye, he sees himself as the assailant peering through the hedge, seeing his victim, attacking, disposing of the weapon. MURDOCH looks at OGDEN with a realization. Something has fallen into place. CUT TO: Police station, the tenth day of the month. MURDOCH'S OFFICE. BRACKENREID and CRABTREE look on as MURDOCH stands by his chalkboard and his diagram of the scene.)

CRABTREE (discouraged)  
I've talked with one more person on Mr. Akers's list, sir. Only one. Arthur Morelli. He has a good alibi. (Sighs.) I do not know how many more suspects we'll be able to question. All the others have left town or have gone into hiding.

MURDOCH  
Maybe we won't have to talk to any more people on the list, George.

(CRABTREE exhibits surprise and relief.)

MURDOCH  
We have been assuming that the intended target of this killing was Terrence Akers. But I think that the intended target was not Terrence at all!

(BRACKENREID and CRABTREE look at each other with disbelief. FADE OUT.)


	5. ACT 5

ACT V

(FADE IN. STATION HOUSE NO. 4. CUT TO: MURDOCH'S OFFICE. BRACKENREID and CRABTREE look on as MURDOCH stands by his chalkboard and his diagram of the scene. It is still the morning of the tenth day of the month.)

MURDOCH  
For the past several days, I have been operating under an assumption that I am beginning to call into question. When this crime was first committed, there seemed to be no reason for it. Mr. Akers was not relieved of his wallet or any other valuables on his person, so the killer's motive was not robbery. When we investigated who might want to kill Mr. Akers, we found that he was widely liked and respected. There was no one who wanted to harm him. Consequently, we had no suspects.

BRACKENREID  
And then the brother, Terrence, came to us.

MURDOCH  
Terrence, as we have seen, looks astonishingly like his brother. And we have established that Terrence, unlike Timothy, has many enemies, including enemies in Toronto. And so we assumed that whoever killed Timothy may have intended to kill Terrence.

CRABTREE  
Mistaken identity.

MURDOCH  
Yes. That assumption seemed to be reasonable, even unavoidable. But now, I am not certain that it is correct.

BRACKENREID  
What? You're saying that whoever killed Timothy DID NOT intend to kill Terrence?

MURDOCH  
Yes.

BRACKENREID  
And you're saying that whoever killed Timothy MEANT to kill Timothy? This was NOT a case of mistaken identity?

MURDOCH  
Exactly. Let me explain how I came to doubt that there was mistaken identity. First. The killer was waiting for his victim, in ambush. If the intended victim was Terrence, this simply makes no sense. How would the killer know that Terrence would be walking by? Terrence did not live in the area. Even if the killer knew that Terrence was in Toronto, how could the killer know that Terrence would be at this particular site at this particular time? If the intended victim was Timothy, on the other hand, the ambush makes sense. The attack took place near Timothy's home, along the route that Timothy took routinely on his way to his office. Second. If the killer's intended target was Terrence, why use a club as a weapon? Terrence is known to have bodyguards who accompany him at times, and should a bodyguard happen to be present, he could stop an attacker who was armed with a club. For anyone wanting to kill Terrence, a pistol would be a more sensible weapon.

BRACKENREID  
I suppose you could also say that if the attacker wanted to kill Terrence, and saw Timothy coming down the path with no bodyguard, that attacker ought to wonder whether that the person might not be Terrence in the first place.

(MURDOCH makes a gesture so as to say, "Valid point.")

MURDOCH  
If the intended victim is Timothy, then the use of a club makes more sense. Timothy will not have a bodyguard, and Timothy can be taken by surprise. Third. The scene of the crime. If the intended victim was Terrence, then the scene is a poor one in which to make the attack. There is no way an attacker would know that there would be no witnesses. Such an ambush would seem to carry a large risk of being seen.

CRABTREE  
But the people who lived in the area all said that the path was not used much at that time of the morning, and there would probably NOT be any eyewitnesses.

MURDOCH  
Exactly, George! These were people who lived in the area and who were familiar with the comings and goings of the residents. They based their knowledge upon what they observed over many days, weeks, or months. But a stranger, preparing to ambush Terrence, would not know that the scene would likely be free from witnesses.

BRACKENREID  
Unless the attacker lived in the neighbourhood!

MURDOCH  
That is right. And if the attacker was from the neighbourhood, it is more likely that the intended victim would be Timothy, who lived nearby, and not Terrence, who would be a stranger. Gentlemen. I believe we have been distracted by our focus upon possible motives against Terrence. I believe the intended victim was Timothy.

BRACKENREID (offhandedly)  
So maybe it WAS the wife!

MURDOCH  
But for some reservations, I would agree that she is indeed our most likely suspect. Mary Akers knew her husband's routine, what path he took, what time he went to work. She knew that very few people would be present at the time, and that there would likely be no witnesses. She could see Mr. Hull's carpentry shop, and she could see whether he had any scrap poles. She could have retrieved a pole at any time. But—

(BRACKENREID doesn't like the sound of that last word.)

BRACKENREID  
But what, Murdoch?

MURDOCH  
As I said, sir, I have some reservations about Mary Akers being a suspect. She would have had to hide behind the hedge waiting for her husband to come along his usual route. She would then have to strike him with sufficient force to kill him or render him unconscious. After striking him, she could have walked to Mr. Hull's shop and disposed of the weapon in his incinerator, then returned home and waited for things to unfold.

BRACKENREID  
You don't think she could've done that?

MURDOCH  
She does not seem to me to have the, uh, physique necessary to deliver a blow with such force. And, unless I miss my guess, she is left-handed. Julia said the assailant was probably right-handed.

BRACKENREID (disappointed that the case is not solved)  
And there's also the problem of her motive, too.

MURDOCH (not sure motive is a problem)  
We do have witnesses who say that Mary and Timothy fought—

BRACKENREID  
Husbands and wives do that! It's a fact of life.

MURDOCH  
— And money. Mary stands to collect on a one hundred thousand dollar life insurance policy. The benefit was raised from twenty thousand to one hundred thousand just a few months ago.

BRACKENREID  
Yes, but didn't we learn a lesson from the Sawyer case? A wife getting money from a husband's death is usually not going to weigh much with a jury. Besides, I thought Mary had nothing to do with her husband's decision to increase the insurance benefit.

MURDOCH  
She didn't. We've been told she learned about it after he had done it.

CRABTREE  
I'm confused. Is she a suspect or not?

(BRACKENREID and CRABTREE look at MURDOCH.)

MURDOCH  
Yes, she is a suspect. There is something else that may point to her involvement: the timing of the murder.

BRACKENREID  
The timing?

MURDOCH  
If we assume that Mary wanted Timothy dead, and wanted to raise a suspicion of mistaken identity, she would want to have the murder occur when Terrence was in town. She THOUGHT Terrence was in Toronto on the fourth, and the crime was committed on the morning of the fifth. We know, however, that Terrence lied to Mary about arriving in Toronto on the fourth, and that he actually arrived after the murder had occurred. We also know that Mary was aware that Terrence looked exactly like Timothy, and that Terrence had scores of enemies.

BRACKENREID  
So if Mary ever DID get put on trial, she'd be able to show that Terrence and Timothy were look-likes, and Terrence had plenty of people out to get him.

MURDOCH  
And I've found she can become teary-eyed, very convincingly, whenever she likes.

BRACKENREID  
In other words, she'd turn on the tears to get the sympathy of the jury. That, combined with the plausible-sounding scenario that Terrence was the intended victim and that he had lots of enemies, and no jury would send her to the gallows.

MURDOCH  
Yes. But— I'm not sure she was physically capable of committing the crime in the first place.

BRACKENREID  
Nevertheless, we've got enough to bring her in.

MURDOCH  
Let's go, George.

(CUT TO: THE AKERS HOME. MURDOCH and CRABTREE knock at the door. MURDOCH tries the front door and finds it locked. CRABTREE looks through a window and sees furnishings: tables, chairs, and the like. Abruptly WRIGHT approaches the front door, carrying his valise; he recognizes MURDOCH and sees that CRABTREE is a constable.)

WRIGHT  
Detective. Officer. Somethin' I can do for you?

MURDOCH  
We are here to see Mrs. Akers.

WRIGHT  
This ain't her house no more. It's mine. She moved out.

CRABTREE  
But her furniture is still here.

WRIGHT  
I own that too. You officers want to see deeds and bills of sale? (pats his valise) I've got 'em right here.

MURDOCH  
You bought the house and furnishings?

WRIGHT  
Yes, sir, other personal property as well; liquidated the estate for cash. Got all the legal documents here. (pats his valise again). You want to see 'em?

MURDOCH  
No. Do you know to where Mrs. Akers has moved?

WRIGHT  
No, sir. She said something about going to live with her brother-in-law, I think.

(MURDOCH and CRABTREE exchange glances. MURDOCH sighs. CUT TO: STATION HOUSE NO. 4. CUT TO: BRACKENREID'S OFFICE. BRACHENREID and MURDOCH are standing close to one another; CRABTREE is standing apart from them.)

BRACKENREID  
So she's gone.

MURDOCH  
Yes. So, it seems, is Terrence Akers. We checked his hotel. He left town a few hours ago and his whereabouts are unknown.

BRACKENREID  
Well, Terrence Akers is probably going back to Detroit. There's only so many roads he can take. You might be able to catch up with him. And if you find Mary Akers with him, that might wrap it all up. It would mean they planned this thing together, and now they're making their getaway.

MURDOCH (to CRABTREE)  
Let's go, George!

(MURDOCH and CRABTREE exit the office, and as they pass through the constables' area, CRABTREE touches MURDOCH's arm.)

CRABTREE  
Sir, do we know of ANY reason why Terrence Akers would plot to kill his own brother?

MURDOCH  
No, but here's a question for you, George: why would an honest businessman like Terrence Akers have so many enemies who are involved with criminal activities?

CRABTREE  
Because— he isn't really an honest businessman?

(MURDOCH smiles. CUT TO: A ROAD IN THE COUNTRY. TERRENCE is in a handsome, well-built carriage with a BODYGUARD. TERRANCE is driving. There is some luggage in the carriage. The carriage is moving slowly and comes to a stop when MURDOCH and CRABTREE step into the road and signal for it to stop. Other CONSTABLES, possibly from another jurisdiction, are also present, and they take up strategic positions around the carriage.)

TERRENCE  
Detective Murdoch. When I saw people waiting on the road up ahead, I wondered what was going on. But I didn't expect to see you.

MURDOCH  
It helps to know the train schedules. That is how I was able to catch up with you.

TERRENCE  
Well, now that you have caught up with me, what can I do for you?

MURDOCH  
Would you come down off the carriage, please?

TERRENCE  
Certainly.

(TERRENCE gestures to his BODYGUARD and they both nimbly dismount.)

MURDOCH  
Would you tell us, please, what freight you are carrying?

TERRENCE (with an air of nothing to hide)  
How about this, I'll show everything to you. And then I'll show you the paperwork, which I'm certain you will find to be in order.

(MURDOCH and TERRENCE move to the luggage, many pieces of which are large enough to hold a person. TERRENCE opens each container, and they are shown to contain various goods, but no people. MURDOCH moves some of the goods around, but there are no people in the containers. There is no obvious place where a person might be hiding.)

TERRENCE  
Satisfied? Now, I'll show you the paperwork.

MURDOCH  
Never mind the paperwork. (Shouts.) Mrs. Mary Akers, you can come out, now!

(TERRENCE immediately becomes uneasy, but there is nothing he can do; there are too many CONSTABLES with their eyes on him.)

MURDOCH (shouting)  
Toronto Constabulary! Mrs. Akers, come out!

(MURDOCH knocks on the carriage.)

MURDOCH (shouting)  
Mrs. Akers, Mary, come out right now!

(A panel moves, and MARY slides out from a hidden compartment in the carriage. The hidden compartment was very well-hidden.)

MURDOCH  
Curious how a man who denies being a smuggler has a hidden compartment like that.

TERRENCE  
It's for legitimate purposes of security!

MURDOCH  
Yes, and it was securing Mary Akers.

(MARY is helped onto the ground by CRABTREE.)

MURDOCH (shouting)  
Mr. Timbrook, you may come out right now as well! Mr. Timbrook?

(CRABTREE is surprised to hear MURDOCH say this, but presently, TIMBROOK sticks his head out of the compartment. Another CONSTABLE helps remove TIMBROOK from the carriage.)

MURDOCH  
Mrs. Akers, Mr. Timbrook, you are under arrest for the murder of Timothy Akers. Mr. Akers, you are under arrest for aiding and abetting fugitives.

(CONSTABLES seize TERRENCE, TIMBROOK, and MARY. The BODYGUARD makes a move to interfere, but CRABTREE steps in his way.)

CRABTREE (sternly to the BODYGUARD)  
This is police business, sir. Do not interfere.

(The BODYGUARD does not interfere.)

TERRENCE  
Fugitives? I didn't!

MURDOCH  
Oh, they were just ordinary passengers? I suppose there was simply not enough room in the carriage for them to ride in the open air, and that is why they were in that hidden compartment. Forgive me, but I'm skeptical.

(TERRENCE would like to talk himself out of the mess, but can't think what to say. MURDOCH smirks. CUT TO: BRACKENREID'S OFFICE. BRACHENREID is sitting in his chair, MURDOCH and CRABTREE are standing.)

BRACKENREID  
What the Detroit police said was true. Terrence Akers will smuggle anything, if the money is right. He'll even smuggle the suspected killers of his own brother! And Mary, it seems, had money.

MURDOCH  
Yes, from the insurance, and the sale of her husband's real and personal property, which Mr. Wright arranged. Mr. Timbrook had some assets as well. They were planning to start a new life together in the States.

CRABTREE  
And Timbrook, who sold her late husband the large insurance policy: he was the actual killer?

MURDOCH  
I believe so. On their way back to Toronto, Mary admitted they'd been seeing each other secretly for several months. Mary also said a few things to suggest that, not only did Mr. Timbrook kill Timothy, the whole scheme was Mr. Timbrook's idea, a point with which Mr. Timbrook adamantly disagreed. That is, they did not deny their conspiracy to kill Timothy; they only argued as to who was responsible for coming up with the plan. It seems likely to me that Mary planned much of it, and Mr. Timbrook did the actual deed.

BRACKENREID  
That Timbrook better be right-handed, Murdoch!

MURDOCH (smiling)  
He is. And his height and physical build are consistent with what we know about the killer.

CRABTREE  
But how did you even know Timbrook was involved, sir?

MURDOCH  
I spoke to Mr. Jones of Stately Insurance shortly before I went to Mary's home. Mr. Jones said a man named Timbrook had sold her husband the large policy. When I arrived at Mary's home, there was a man there named Timbrook. It seemed reasonable to assume that he was that very agent, and it seemed logical that that he was there to talk about insurance matters. But presently I realized that he was there for— purposes other than insurance. He was there on a, uh, social call.

CRABTREE  
What tipped you off, sir?

MURDOCH  
For one thing, Mr. Akers's insurance claim was being handled by entirely Mr. Jones, not by Mr. Timbrook. And for another, Mr. Timbrook had no papers.

CRABTREE  
No papers, sir? Is that suspicious?

MURDOCH  
George, have you ever had a meeting with an insurance agent, and talked about insurance, where the agent DIDN'T ask you to look at papers about coverages, risks, policies, payouts and so forth and so forth?

CRABTREE (nodding, smiling)  
An insurance agent without papers: very suspicious indeed, sir!

(FADE OUT.)

THE END


End file.
